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TEXT, VIVIAN KELLYBack in early April, I was in downtown, NYC with two European girlfriends. They were on a mission – to hit the Crumpler store to buy a camera bag and a backpack. It sounded boring, but I gamely tagged-along, thinking I could sneak out and check-out the jewelry on the tables outside when they were shopping. All thoughts of that alternative went out the window once I crossed the threshold of this shop that’s seriously not much bigger than my bathroom and walk-in closet. Although we were in NYC, the shop, and salesgirl had a distinct Cali -surfer vibe to it. No wonder, CRUMPLER is originally from Down Under/Australia, and also has a shop in San Francisco. While Florence and Sandra debated the merits of the sage green vs the pewter colored backpacks, I examined the goodies by the register. Being a hard core pink and green Lilly Pulitzer girl, I bought the pink phone case to try this brand out in a small way. This little experiment cost me under $15, as the cases happened to be on sale that day.

I’d previously associated people who run around with their cellphones clipped to their jeans to be hopelessly nerdy and in need of a fashion 411, yet there I was a month later, wearing my Crumpler velcroed to my Varvatos-Converse jeans, at a gymnastics meet in New Hampshire. No one looked at me strangely, or suggested I try out for a part as an extra in the remake of ‘Revenge of the Nerds’. My next purchase from Crumpler will be a backpack with padding in all the right places that I’ll wear during New York Fashion Week in September. Hopefully, it comes in pink.